Vanden Plas - Far Off Grace (1999)

Written by Andy Read, published Sunday 20 December 2015

Introduction by Andy Read

Here is a little story... Once upon a time, 15 years ago, DPRP was
just a five-year-old web-sapling and I had just skidded through my third
decade. Then one day a kindly doctor hovered over my hospital bed and
uttered the dreaded C-word. A tumour, the size of fist, had staked its
claim to the middle of my chest. The doctor kindly gave me a 50:50
chance of ever skidding through a fourth decade.

After a year's worth of chemotherapy and a weekly exposure of my chest
to a kindly radio-therapy nurse, I was bald but bold. I made a list of
10 bands I wanted to see before I died - be that sooner or later. Within
a year I was in remission and had travelled to Progpower USA, the south
of Spain, Netherlands, Sweden Rock Festival, Paris and London and struck
nine off that list (including the legendary ARK which I'd thought
was being overly optimistic). One band however was proving
problematic.

Vanden Plas had been on the bill for my trip to ProgPower USA, but
pulled out due to safety concerns following 9/11. I had also travelled
to see them in Paris, only to arrive to find a note saying they had had
to cancel due to the sudden death of singer Andy Kuntz's father.

Undeterred, a year later I was back in Paris, to emotionally cross the
final band name off my list. I cried a lot at the end of my
mini-odyssey, especially during the already emotional Healing Tree,
where Andy Kuntz dedicated the song to his father and apologised for not
turning up the previous year, and the whole hall burst into a warm and
lengthy round of applause in solidarity.

Thankfully I am now skidding through my fifth decade. With my wife I am
working through a new list: 50 Great Walks To Do Before You Die. And
when I do reach my Far Off Grace, this is one album I hope someone has
put into the jukebox!